1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to prosthodontic and orthodontic dental procedures.
2. Related Art
Orthodontics is a dental specialty concerned with correcting irregularities in a patient's dentition, such as malocclusion. Orthodontics generally involves the realignment and/or repositioning of a patient's teeth. The corrected alignment and/or position improve the function and appearance of the teeth.
Prosthodontics is a dental specialty concerned with correcting irregularities in a patient's dentition, such as missing, misshaped, malformed, or maloccluded teeth. Whereas orthodontics generally involves realignment and/or repositioning of a patient's teeth, prosthodontics generally involves reshaping a patient's teeth by grinding or cutting and/or building up portions of the teeth with biocompatible dental materials. For example, a prosthodontic procedure may involve the placement of one or more dental restorations, such as crowns, bridges, inlays, and/or veneers. Prosthodontics also corrects for improper tooth color and shape, which orthodontics alone cannot correct.